


the weight of a world

by QuoteMyFoot



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Soen no Kiseki/Akatsuki no Megami | Fire Emblem Path of Radiance/Radiant Dawn
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Gen, Genocide, Grief/Mourning, Heavy Angst, Pre-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-21
Updated: 2019-08-21
Packaged: 2020-09-23 14:14:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 438
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20341456
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QuoteMyFoot/pseuds/QuoteMyFoot
Summary: After the Serenes Massacre, Reyson cannot sing for his people. His voice alone is not enough.Written for FE Gen Week, Day 4:music/tempest.





	the weight of a world

The galdrar were sacred songs that had been passed down through generations of the heron clan. Some of them were known only to the royal family. Before the burning of Serenes, Father taught all of his children the forbidden galdr of destruction.

"Why must we know this at all?" Lillia asked. "We're a peaceful tribe. This forest is our _home._ How could we use it to destroy?"

"Some things," King Lorazieh had said gravely, "are too terrible to permit. In such an event, it's our duty as the leaders of the heron clan to prevent the worst – even if it goes against our very nature."

The song hadn't helped them when the forest was consumed by fire. The altar was too far away when Reyson and his father watched their people slaughtered.

_What could be worse than this? _

Nothing was worse. Perhaps that was why Father abandoned the galdrar. After they left Serenes, he was nearly always silent, and he never, ever sang.

Tibarn tried to fill the air with promises of retribution, and that did help, a little—but when the hawks took to wing to ravage the Begnion ships, the silence returned, and Reyson remembered how alone he was. Tibarn was—was—

Reyson was more grateful to him than he could possibly say. But he'd lost so much—more than there were words to express. The herons had been mourning songs, but they were bittersweet things, meant to celebrate the life that had been as well as grieve for the one who was gone. An entire world, it seemed, had died. He had no idea how many, never mind their names. No songs existed to express such a loss.

Reyson had tried. He opened his mouth and let out one, trembling note, before collapsing in tears. Only one voice—alone, he couldn't possibly hope to capture how much was simply _gone. _And yet, in the heavy silence, he could hardly forget.

Perhaps no galdrar would ever be sung again. Perhaps his people were totally dead, already, and he and his father existed only as ghosts, an echo of the last note in an anicent song. If his people were truly gone, Reyson felt no need to abide by their laws. Some things were too terrible to be permitted, but the deed was done—and it was too terrible to go unpunished.

_All the rest of my days will be spent watching Begnion suffer. It is not enough, but it is all there is left to be done._

_When there is no one to sing a song of mourning for them—only then will I be satisfied. _


End file.
